Phobia
by SnowFallsSlow
Summary: It’s not bravery if you’re not scared. No, then it’s just suicidal.
1. Starfire

_Another new one-shot series from yours truly. This was written for a contest on **http:// titans. 7forum. net/ forum. htm**, a crazy awesome group of Titans fans. If you spend any time at all on the web, you should look at joining. Just tell them Snow sent you. Trust me, you will be welcomed._

* * *

Starfire was strong; stronger than she looked, stronger than anyone she'd yet to meet, at least on this strange new planet. Weakness was unacceptable where she came from. The weak, except for the very small and the very old, were scorned, were trampled, were obliterated, back on her home planet. And so, she was strong. She had to be, as the princess of that people, there was no choice.

But everyone, even those who are strong, who have to be, is afraid of something, and she was no exception. You see, Starfire, strong and brave as she was, was afraid of the dark.

Sure, she could get around it most of the time, ignore it, or claim that the reason she lit their darkened ways without being asked was that she had trouble seeing in the dark, unalike the boys. But, the truth was that she was afraid. Not truly of the dark, perhaps, but the things that it hid from her. The Gordanians had kept her in a dark cell; the rage and fury she had displayed in her escape hadn't only been at her capture, their intentions. Some of it was terror leaking out of her body, anger that she'd been frightened in the first place.

The others would have difficulty understanding her fears. Cyborg, with his mechanical eye, had no reason to fear the dark, for he could easily pierce through it without the help of a light, and Robin had been raised in darkness. Beast Boy's senses were incredible, and his vision was no exception, especially in the dark. Raven didn't fear the dark; rather, she seemed to embrace it.

But, then, everyone had a fear, and Starfire was certainly no exception.

* * *

_I think Robin's next; I'll post again tomorrow._

_...SnowFallsSlow...  
_


	2. Robin

_Sorry that took so long; this beautiful site decided to throw a hissy fit and not let me upload anything. Here is, as promised, Robin's fear._

_

* * *

Pain is weakness leaving the body._ When Robin had first heard that, something inside him clicked, and it was all he could do not to bust out laughing hysterically. Batman hadn't ever said those words, no, but each of them had been beaten into him, punch by punch, kick by kick, during his lessons with the Big Bad Bat, beaten into him until it was a truth he held sacred without even realizing it. He'd learned to ignore the pain, and, after that, to embrace it, because that was what was expected of him. They couldn't afford to slow down because his feet hurt, to rest because of a headache, to halt a battle because he'd been stupid, so stupid, and gotten his arm broken, or his nose, or his jaw. That he was young earned him no slack; it made his mentor harsher in his words, higher in his expectations.

People counted on him, Batman at first, then the civilians, and the police, and finally his team. His parents had counted on him in the very beginning, but he had let them down, and they died. Robin, you see, was terrified of letting others down. Awful repercussions came from letting the wrong people down, and he could feel his team's heart-brokenness when he screwed up, led them into danger, let them down. His team counted on him; they needed him to be perfect.

And Robin hated to disappoint.

* * *

_I got smart, and uploaded the other chapters right away; expect them soon. I just have to put these endearing author's notes in them, you know, the ones that nobody really reads anyway?_

_...SnowFallsSlow..._


	3. Raven

_This one's the shortest; it was hard to think of something original and not completely ridiculous for Raven to be afraid of. This might be a BBRae pairing, but only if you squint really hard and tilt your head._

* * *

Raven really didn't mind most of Beast Boy's pranks. Sometimes, when they were pulled on someone else, obviously, they were even funny. A bucket of water dumped on the Boy Wonder's head from above the door? Their leader had had it coming; he'd been wound a little too tight for a little too long, and that was the only way Beast Boy knew to get him to mellow out. Replacing Starfire's sugar with salt? That had backfired; the princess had found all of her foods even more delightful, and Beast Boy had been force-fed a lot more than his fair share. Putting a rubber snake in the fridge on top of Cyborg's supply of meat? The metallic teenager had been getting a bit irritating with his side of the traditional tofu/meat argument.

But the green boy had taken it too far when she woke up with a large spider sitting on her chest. She'd screamed her head off, broken every window in the Tower, and had ripped the spider apart with her powers, all in the space of a minute. Luckily for the shape-shifting prankster, he hadn't gone through with his original plan of becoming the spider himself, and had simply placed a rubber substitute on her while she slept, or else the world would have been short one green hero.

Raven was terrified of spiders.

* * *

_Yeah, I really don't think it counts as a pairing, but then, I'm terrible at romance._

_...SnowFallsSlow..._


	4. Cyborg

_Yeah, I know Raven's wasn't fantastic, but thanks for giving me another chance. :D This one's all about Cyborg, our favorite Titan. I'll see you at the bottom._

* * *

Cyborg used to go to a high school, way back when. He was a "jock," if you will, a football player, and very, very good at it. He'd had a shot at a scholarship, riding on his football career, promising him a good life. His father didn't like football, and wanted his son to get a scholarship based on good grades, perfect grades, and intellect alone. And, in a horrible twist of fate, his father's wish had been half-granted: Cyborg could no longer play football.

The jeering laughter at his new cybernetic parts, the cruel jokes, hadn't been the worst of it, of everything that happened after the accident. His friends pretended they didn't know who he was; he faded into obscurity in his school without football. The nerdy kids hated him because the other jocks had picked on them; there was a natural line between himself and every other kid in the school. And he hated it.

More than anything, Cyborg was terrified of slipping into obscurity. If people didn't know who he was, didn't recognize him, how was he to leave a mark on the world, make his impression and change it for the better? Eventually, he decided to cut off his nose to spite his face; that is, he refused college and took off into the world with only a high school diploma simply to upset his father. However, as his father would have loved to point out, this forced him further into obscurity, upsetting him more than it ever would his father.

But, it led him to the Titans. With them, he could do all that he had wanted since the day of the accident: he could be somebody, somebody important. Fate was just in time, and had acted on his behalf for once.

Because Cyborg just couldn't take another day of obscurity.

* * *

_Ta-dah! You know what I just realized? There's not enough Cyborg on this site. My next story -which will be under 5,000 words, due to the fact it's for a contest- will have Cyborg as the main character._

_...SnowFallsSlow..._


	5. Beast Boy

_Before you get on to reading this, I'd like to point out two very important things. Number 1: these one-shots weren't made to be the Titan's worst fears, just something they were afraid of. Number 2: this story is six chapters long; yes, six. One chapter for each of the Titans, and one for the team as a whole. _

_So, stick around after this chapter for a little while, and bear with me; I'm not a professional yet. ;)_

* * *

Beast Boy hardly ever got sick. When he did, he was more likely to pretend he wasn't sick than tell the others that he was. His immune system was fairly impressive, and, unless he was really sick, he'd much rather let his body take care of itself than let them take him _there_, to that dreaded building, with the people with cold hands. The others didn't seem to understand why he was so afraid of the doctor's. He let Cyborg patch him up and stick him full of needles and run tests on him and give him pills. Why couldn't he trust a professional to do the same?

There was no simple answer, except that he was afraid. Doctors in Africa, where he had been born and spent his younger years, did nothing more than cause pain on top of the illness the patient was plagued with. If what they did had no effect, the patient was deemed possessed and dealt with accordingly. He almost hadn't made it out of that village, but his father had saved him.

The first time he'd gone to a doctor in America hadn't been much better. Having never had a shot with the intent of preventing a disease in his life, he was very behind on them –one of the nurses had marveled at the fact he wasn't the least bit sick, that this was only a check-up, what with all of the diseases he was supposedly susceptible to. They'd given him shot after shot, even though he cried and begged them not to, shot after shot after shot until he was sore all over. And then, he'd gotten sick. So sick he could hardly walk, sick with the illnesses they were trying to stop him from getting. They didn't know how to make him better, he'd just had to ride the sickness out, let his body take care of itself.

So, Beast Boy was terrified of going to the doctor's.

* * *

_Okay, now remember: six chapters! There's still one more coming._

_...SnowFallsSlow..._


	6. The Teen Titans

_As promised, the final installment of _Phobia._ Read on, my friends, read on. Oh, and Somewhere In Time, thanks for pointing that out. I'll go fix it._

* * *

Each of the Titans clung to their fears, not trying to get rid of them, to better themselves and be that much closer to fearlessness. So long as they had separate fears to distract them, they wouldn't have to face their mutual fear. The fear that one of these days, a battle was going to be too much, or an argument was going to get too big, and their little family would break apart.

They each wondered, though never out loud, which of them would be the first one to leave. Would Robin scare off Beast Boy? The two didn't really get along, maybe a prank would go too far, and everything would just escalate, get out of control. Or would Raven leave, or Cyborg, or even Starfire?

Even these ponderings were a cover-up for their true fear: that one fateful day, the five of them would leave for a battle, and only four of them would come back. To mention this shared terror, to bring it to light and talk about it, would make it more concrete. This was not something that could be brushed aside, driven away by logic, or talked into warm, fuzzy feelings, because it was a very real possibility.

The thing they all feared was the loss of each other.

* * *

_And this is why none of them had a fear involving their friends; they all share it, and I couldn't decide which of them to give it to. So, I just gave it to all of them. :D_

_Seriously, if any of you haven't checked out _**http:// titans. 7forum. net/**_ you really should. Almost everyone there is friendly, and the unfriendly ones are easily avoided.  
_

_...SnowFallsSlow._


End file.
